Saturday, September 22, 2012

Finding Love When You Least Expect It

Vacations aren't the same for everyone. And tracking down your stolen twin can be a little frustrating until bullets fly past you, then it's flat out dangerous. Two strangers become allies and find love along the way.﻿

Excerpt

﻿

The following excerpt occurs after
seeing Simone and Seth see their tour van careen over the crumbling cliff in Austria’s
mountains, and realizing there was no way to climb down to help the
other passengers if they survived… Simone and Seth look for
shelter.

“We’ll
need to walk through the woods to get out of here,” he said. “And
there’s likely to be animals out here somewhere.”

She
took a deep breath, listening to all his reasons why they couldn’t
help those people. Blowing it out she knew most of what he said was
right. It did nothing to make her feel better—nothing at all.

“Unless
you know of some sort of shelter down there that’s inviting death.
Even if we get to them in one piece, what then? What do we take care
of their wounds with?”

“I
don’t know, Seth, but we can’t just stand here doing nothing.”

Something
she said must have gotten through that thick skull. His shoulders
relaxed as he nodded his head.

“Simone,
we’ll never make it down safely. What we need to do is stay alive.
Come on, it turns cold up here early.” He pulled off his ski
gloves, unzipped his white ski parka, and took out his iPhone. “If
you have a cell, I suggest trying for a signal. Let’s check out the
little shanty back in the woods… see if it’s dry. We can stay
there.”

“We?”
Simone groaned, pushing off on her thighs to stand. “Why don’t I
stay here? If anyone heard the van hit the valley, they’ll see the
tracks coming down the mountain. They’ll come for us.”

“Here,”
he said, handing her his cell. “I’ll run up to the house, check
it out while you keep trying for a signal. Come get me if you see
anything.”

She
waved her phone through the air to pick up a signal. “Hard to
believe there aren’t any cell towers up here—this being a
touristy area,” she said before he slipped into the woods.

He
called over his shoulder, “Most tourists come for the mountains,
not for the cell reception, miss.”

“You
don’t have to...” she started to say, but a muffled explosion
rocked the cold mountain air, sending her stumbling forward. Together
they bolted to the crumbling edge. She closed a hand over her mouth
as the sight of the flames dancing around the tour van burned into
her mind. They were too far up to make out any movement, but she knew
they were dead. No one could have survived that blast.

If you liked what you read above you can pick up a copy of Stranded but not Alone at: